The Refined Palate
by gonosono
Summary: Set after Ch. 79 in the manga (spoilers): Nothing tends to escape Kaneki's notice these days, not with the constant gnawing itch in his back, grown accustomed to reacting against danger. It was only natural for him to respond to the Gourmet's ever-hungry eyes. Yaoi. Tsukiken in five segments.
1. Chapter 1

**Warning:** Spoilers for people who haven't read the raw scans or following the manga. This takes place after Chapter 79. Not much of the actual storyline is mentioned here but still. Also yaoi. Tsukiken. Nothing too graphic, but rated M to be safe.

This will be a multi-part fic (with no real plot - there might be, but it'll definitely go off on a tangent of its own) with an _emphasis_ on character interactions.

Excuse my bad writing. Enjoy!

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I. Gourmet, Part III

Kaneki wakes when someone slips into his bed quietly, the mattress dipping down carefully. He pretends not to notice, but an arm slowly wraps around his waist, tugging him and enveloping him in a warm and intimate embrace. Kaneki sighs, turning around to face the other man.

The moonlight peeking through the slits of the blinds illuminate the long dark lashes, a gleam of sensuous red in the dark. A soft minty breath brushes against his face, the curve of a lip pressed against his cheek. "Did I wake you?"

Tsukiyama sounds exhausted, too tired. The usual buoyancy of his voice, evident in even his whispers and even in the most dire of situations was replaced with a soft, cracked admission of weariness.

"No." Kaneki lies. "I was awake before you came." He shifts a bit, settling more comfortably against Tsukiyama and letting the other wrap both arms around his body, the hands taking care to not stray too far down from his back.

"Waiting for me?" Tsukiyama whispers with a hint of smile. Kaneki delivers a sharp blow into his gut, hears Tsukiyama cough out a pained groan. "Ah, I take that back."

He doesn't retaliate, and instead quiets down after the pain subsides. Tsukiyama leans into Kaneki's body, his nose twitching and mouth tightly shut. Kaneki could hear the other's teeth grinding, clenched in an attempt to restrain himself from taking a bite. He thinks about the other's past actions, his proclamations of wanting to eat Kaneki, and then his sudden change of heart - but.

But Kaneki doesn't believe much of what Tsukiyama says. He is clever, sly, cunning, and downright merciless and ruthless when the situation called, always acting on his own whims and desires, similar to Rize, or of what Kaneki had found out about Rize. His life had revolved around amassing delicacies, satisfying his intricate dance of predation and refining his palate. Kaneki knew he kept a handkerchief of his blood from the first time that Tsukiyama had shown his true colors; he could smell it on him every single time he drew near.

And yet, the Tsukiyama that crawled into his bed every other night, murmuring bad pick-up lines and cracking terrible jokes that made Kaneki want to punch the other in sheer aggravation had carved out a small niche of an inexplicable fondness. This Tsukiyama was different from the day: he was almost human. He was almost genuine.

They had slept together enough on the same bed for Kaneki to trust him not to do anything. After all, it went against his "ethic," as laughingly as a term like that associated with the Gourmet.

"Sleep." Kaneki said, throwing the covers over Tsukiyama, who grabbed it gratefully and nodded obediently. Soon enough, quiet snuffles filled the silence, and Kaneki wondered, not for the first time, how this arrangement came to be.

But given daytime, Kaneki knew that Tsukiyama would be gone, pretending as if he had never passed nights in his bed and behaving in that ridiculously suspicious fawning and unctuous manner to him. Kaneki almost wished the nighttime Tsukiyama would replace the daytime, but of course that was just silly, since both were the same person.

Kaneki's eyes slid closed, and reverting to his usual position, he clutched onto Tsukiyama as he slept.

When he woke, he was gripping his pillow tightly, alone. The sunlight cast horizontal shadows on his bed, and only the faint smell of mint and lavender gave any indication that he had not been alone in the night.

Strangely enough, it brought Kaneki more comfort than he had thought. _I'm getting weak_, he thinks before plodding into the bathroom, leaving behind a tangle of slowly cooling bedsheets.

Tsukiyama crawls into Kaneki's bed again the next night. "I have information," he says as a way to explain himself. Kaneki stares, deadpan, at the silk pajamas that stretch nicely across Tsukiyama's torso and legs.

"Of course you do." Kaneki mutters, turning around to face away from Tsukiyama as he snuggles against his back. "Save that for the morning then, I guess."

"Thanks." Tsukiyama whispers into his ear, and Kaneki, too used to these gestures, brushes off the tingling feeling away, shrugging slightly. "Good night." Hesitating, Kaneki adds, "Sleep well, okay?"

A soft voice replies, "Yes. Good night, Kaneki-kun." Kaneki doesn't need to turn around to know that Tsukiyama is smiling.

He lies in bed feeling Tsukiyama's chest hunched over him, the rise and fall of the other's chest rhythmic, soothing. He closes his eyes and tries to fall asleep. Tonight sleep eludes him, and he feels restless. He turns around, presses his face into Tsukiyama's chest, ignores the soft flutter coursing through the other's body, and inhales the scent of mint and lavender. The effect is almost instant, Kaneki's eyes drop, his limbs relax, and he clings to Tsukiyama as the gentle tides of sleep washes away his consciousness.

Kaneki wakes up around the same time in the morning when Tsukiyama usually gets out of bed. For Kaneki, it is the loss of the other's body that jolts him awake. Tsukiyama, startled by the sudden change in Kaneki's breathing pattern, turns around, halfway through tugging off his silk night shirt. The shift in expression, from surprised to a pretentiously playful and cheerful expression, catches Kaneki off guard and he clenches his fist as Tsukiyama drawls out, "Good morning, my darling!"

The face that he makes, a large smirk with closed eyes, causes Kaneki to momentarily snap and throw his pillow into Tsukiyama's face with a loud thump. He darts forward, driving the other's momentum to the floor. Glaring, face flushed with the early morning exertion, Kaneki straddles the other's abdomen, pinning his arms to his side.

Dark eyes blink up at him in unveiled surprise. "What? Kaneki-kun..." He looks up into Kaneki's angry face, bemused. "Did I do something?"

Kaneki tries to control his anger, fails, and squeezes his eyes shut, his nails digging into Tsukiyama's bare shoulders. He inhales deeply, the scent of lavender and mint strangely intoxicating, and exhales, his mind cooling off. Without a word he gets off of Tsukiyama, throwing his dress shirt at him, gaze averted.

"Don't greet me with that stupid expression!" Kaneki says, cheeks flushing at how...how _tsundere_ he sounds.

"O-okay." Tsukiyama replies, unnerved, and pulls on the dress shirt. Kaneki's embarrassment fades, a vindictive pleasure of knowing that even Tsukiyama didn't know what to do in these kinds of situations almost balancing out his initial outburst.

At that moment, Banjou knocks on his door, asking with well-meaning intentions, "Are you alright, Kaneki-kun? I heard some strange noises."

"I'm alright." Kaneki shoots Tsukiyama a look, willing him to understand this and possibly go away or hide. Tsukiyama is halfway through his pants, and Banjou chooses that moment to open the door. His eyes go stupidly wide, mouth falling open like a goldfish, and his loud, loud voice carries throughout the whole entire house as he yells, "What the hell are you doing here?!"

Everyone runs to Kaneki's room, standing outside as Tsukiyama beams brightly at everyone, somehow appearing suave and smooth, even with his pants half down his legs. "Kaneki-kun invited me over for the night! I simply couldn't refuse his gracious offer." His voice lowers, and he looks over at Kaneki with hooded eyes.

Banjou almost roars in his anger at what Tsukiyama implies. "What?! You- No- Kaneki-kun isn't like that! Put some pants on!"

Tsukiyama tugs on the rest, calmly clasps his belt, and pats the red-faced Banjou on the back. "Why don't you ask Kaneki himself?"

All this while, Kaneki was silently cursing Banjou for interrupting, Tsukiyama for being so infuriating, and himself. Crossing his arms against bare chest, he almost huffs in annoyance but catches himself with three pairs of eyes trained on him in horrified curiosity. Tsukiyama's pose at the door is casual, ikemen-like, and his face is smooth and leering. Dark eyes follow his movement, predatory and keen, but some shadow of emotion makes Kaneki want to laugh and cry at the same time.

Two could play at this game. Smiling as innocently as he can, Kaneki pulls Tsukiyama back inside his room. "You guys are disturbing us, Banjou-san! And," his ears prick up as they catch movement upstairs, "I think Hinami-chan is awake." With that, he pushes the rest out of the door and closes it.

"Are you sure you wanted to do that, Kaneki-kun?" Tsukiyama's voice is purring and low. Kaneki glares at him, coolly noting the subtle shiver in the other's stance.

He steps gracefully around Tsukiyama, circling him and closing in, watching Tsukiyama take hesitating, stuttering steps away, pupils dilated and a cold sweat beginning to dot his brow. Pinning Tsukiyama against the wall, Kaneki leans upwards, holding his cold glare. He breathes out softly, feels the muscles against the body tense and swell. His mouth hovers near Tsukiyama's chin, but his hands are enough to bring Tsukiyama to the floor, on his knees. Kaneki straddles his hips again, locking the other against the wall. He is close enough, too close in fact, to see the red flecks in the taller man's eyes, small cracks in the other's dry lips.

Kaneki places his head onto Tsukiyama's shoulder, inhales the musky scent of lavender and mint, and then shakes in silent laughter.

"Kaneki-kun?" Tsukiyama says slowly, nervously as if afraid.

Kaneki raises his head and locks his gaze with the other's, thinking _I can't believe that I'm actually going to do this_. Closing his eyes in preparation, Kaneki inches closer to the other man. He is much too tense, but...

Tsukiyama blinks and stares. His expression is more confused than Kaneki has ever seen, and Kaneki climbs off Tsukiyama with a large wicked grin. "I thought this was what you wanted, Tsukiyama-san."

Dark violet brows furrow, and a faint pink stains the other's face before smoothing out. A twisted, ironic smile appears on his face. "That's playing dirty, Kaneki-kun."

Kaneki shrugs, stripping off his boxers and pulling on his skin tight fighting suit. He watches Tsukiyama's face as he stretches, feeling oddly satisfied at the sudden bob of the other's Adam's apple and the dilating pupils. "Help me? I can't get the back." He says, feeling a small wrinkle in the back.

Tsukiyama's hands are shaking slightly as he pulls out the wrinkle from the latex, his fingers brushing against Kaneki's skin, the area where his rinkaku is. "You little brat." He mutters shakily, and Kaneki, used to 24/7 proclamations of his brilliance and worthiness, starts before grinning. He gives in to the temptation of wriggling his hips a little, hears the sharp intake of breath, and thinks about how to trap Tsukiyama completely.

Loyalty, Kaneki thinks as he turns toward Tsukiyama with a small and lopsided smirk, could be obtained in more than one way.

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Parts 1-4 will be posted out of order.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hinami-centric. Information taken, reworded, etc. from wikipedia. Slight OOC everyone.**

**Warning: SPOILER. **

II. Butterfly and Centipede, Part V

"The Chinese red-headed centipede, _Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans_, is a mostly passive and harmless creature unlike others of its species. Used in ancient Chinese medicine, it has astounding healing properties, mostly used to treat rashes and ...and skin diseases? Is that what it says, oni-san?" Hinami asks, pointing.

Kaneki looks up from his book with a smile. He leans forward, the couch creaking slightly, and peers at the large encyclopedia. "Yes, that's right." Head tilting, he asks, "Why are you reading about centipedes?"

Hinami flushes suddenly and looks very guilty. Raising the book to hide her face, she averts her eyes and mumbles unconvincingly, "It's interesting."

Kaneki's eyes narrow before he could help it, and Hinami flinches. She stands up, the book falling to the ground. "Ah! Excuse me, I need to use the restroom!" She says hastily, quickly and almost running out of the room.

Tsukiyama, perfect timing as always, walks in just as Hinami dashes away. Eyebrows raised, he looks at Kaneki in question.

Kaneki sighs and picks up the encyclopedia from the floor. "I think I scared her," He admits, and sits back against the couch, running a hand through his hair distractedly. "I seem to be doing that a lot lately. Even Banjou..." Kaneki winces and remembers the last time he even saw Banjou - the man had avoided him in the streets, the fear barely hidden from his eyes and his lackeys wavering between protecting Banjou or running away themselves.

"Banjou's a clumsy fool." Tsukiyama says, sitting beside Kaneki and riffling through the encyclopedia with vague interest. "Don't blame yourself, Kaneki-kun. You weren't in the right state then and no one blames you. He just needs some time to recover." The unspoken _from you_ rings after the sentence. Seemingly unbothered and oblivious to the cold pit widening in Kaneki's chest, Tsukiyama turns to the book and reads quietly.

"..." Kaneki buries his face into his hands, shoulders hunching over. The living room is silent, save for the slowly turning pages and the soft and low _hmms_ emitting from Tsukiyama's throat every now and then.

"Am I -" Kaneki chokes out after a while, and then swallows uncertainly as Tsukiyama lifts darkly intent eyes from paper to meet his. He appears encouraging, silently avid and rapt, and Kaneki wants to shake him, demand for him to tell the truth - but he doesn't know what he was going to say. _Am I going in the right direction? Am I terrifying? Am I losing myself?_ _What exactly am I doing? Why are you still here? Why haven't I scared you off?_

He opts for an easier one, and he holds Tsukiyama's gaze with just as much intensity as the other was radiating. "Am I terrifying to you?" He breathes out, noting how the taller man leaned a fraction closer at the change of the tone. Kaneki reaches out, his fingers curling around Tsukiyama's wrist, much larger than his yet of more refined elegance. A faint but steady pulse beat underneath his thumb, and Kaneki allowed his fingers to slip in a mockery of a caress.

That was all it took. Tsukiyama's pulse picked up, and the man leaned forward, oddly focused and lightly flushed. Restraining himself from backing away instinctively, Kaneki let Tsukiyama's free hand stroke his hair, sliding down to the side of his face, fingers briefly brushing the tips of his ears before gently framing his jaw.

"You're beautiful." Tsukiyama says, voice low and slightly gruff. Kaneki searches his face for any hint of deceit, sees none in dilated pupils, flushed cheeks, and parted mouth. He leans forward, licking his lips briefly, pressing against the other, his hands sliding to Tsukiyama's broad shoulders and feeling the satiny fabric of his suit wrinkle and bunch up.

With a moan, Tsukiyama eagerly returns the kiss, tongue sliding between Kaneki's slightly parted lips and probing delicately around like a snake flicking its tongue to smell out a prey. He wraps his arms around Kaneki's body, lifting him onto his lap for better position, and moves his lips.

Kaneki shivers as Tsukiyama presses feather light kisses onto his chin, along the groove of his jaw, nibbling lightly at his throat. He closes his eyes and lets Tsukiyama ravish him with delicate kisses and bites, his fingers slowly unbuttoning the front of the other's blood red suit. Tsukiyama's breath is hot against his collarbone but his hands are cold against Kaneki's warmed face.

And then he stops, pushing Kaneki back onto the couch gently. Surprised, Kaneki opens his eyes, blinking in confusion at the lack of the usual enthusiasm the man shows during these intimate moments. Tsukiyama wears a pained expression, a mix of regret and apology.

"What's wrong?" Kaneki asks, crossing his legs together. "Why'd you stop?"

Tsukiyama is silent and looks anywhere but Kaneki. He shifts uncomfortably, his hands casually folding at the bottom of his torso. Kaneki's eyes travel down from Tsukiyama's face to his hands, eyes widening in realization as they land on the stretched bulge in the blood red dress pants. Face burning, Kaneki's mouth falls open and he briefly considers the idea of having sex with the older man, despite the other's continual professions of wanting to eat him.

However, Tsukiyama gives him a stilted smile, sweeps an ironic bow and departs wordlessly from the room.

The door shuts loudly. Upstairs, soft feet thud across the floorboards, and then a small head with a glistening blue ribbon peeks in. "Oni-san?" Hinami asks, eyes wide.

Kaneki's burning forehead is all Hinami sees; the rest of his face covered by the encyclopedia.

"Are you alright? Do you have a fever?" Her voice is worried, genuinely concerned for his well-being. He places the encyclopedia onto the coffee table and smiles weakly at Hinami. "I'll be alright." He says. "Do you want me to teach you the more difficult kanji?"

Hinami's brow is wrinkled, unconvinced, but she crawls onto the couch, resting her head on Kaneki's shoulder. "I want to hear you read about centipedes."

Deciding against asking and losing another friend - one that was almost family - Kaneki turns back to the page with the Chinese red headed centipede and reads aloud from where Hinami had left off. "This centipede is known for its unexpected maternal nature; mothers will wrap its body around its eggs for incubation."

"Maternal. Incubation." Hinami repeats several times to herself, and then says softly. "Kaneki-oni-san."

"Hmm?"

"I think you're a lot like my mama." Her cheeks flame up, and Kaneki, at a loss for words at the sudden admission, could only stare at her in bemusement.

"I-I mean! You're a lot like the Chinese centipede - you're really gentle and kind, and you try your best to take care of me and protect me and everyone else! And although you're scary sometimes, I really like being with you!" Hinami says, breathing really hard at the end with reddened cheeks. "S-so! I think you aren't scary at all! Banjou-ni doesn't think so either!"

Unable to help it, Kaneki bursts out laughing at Hinami's face.

"It's not funny! I'm being serious!" She says indignantly.

"I know, I know," He says, grinning. He pokes her face and says disapprovingly. "Were you listening to our conversation?"

Hinami shuffles uncomfortably and lowers her head, ashamed. "A little bit. And then," she bites her lip, "Then Tsukiyama-ni and you were...um, so I left."

"It's not good to eavesdrop, Hinami." Kaneki chides, but he is instantly cut off.

"Tsukiyama-ni really likes you! So you should go after him! That's what I wanted to say." Hinami gets off the couch, taking the book from Kaneki's hands and tugging him up. She pushes him to the door, Kaneki laughing at how determined she was. "Go! He likes you! Go after him!"

"This isn't - we're not - I mean, he's -" Kaneki tries to say, but Hinami manages to shove him out of his apartment, slamming the door shut.

Kaneki stands still for a moment, and then his shoulders slump over as the giggles helplessly slip out. He had no idea. Hinami was observant, he knew, and her senses were excellent. But this, it was completely unexpected. His initial depression had faded and all he could think about was how uncharacteristically serious her small face was when she pushed him out the door. And Tsukiyama...Kaneki didn't know what to think. There was obviously some type of attraction between them, and Kaneki knew that Tsukiyama harbored much more than a simple desire to eat him, but rather than pursuing him like he did the first time, Tsukiyama had backed away. As if he was considering Kaneki's feelings. As if he saw Kaneki as an equal rather than a delectable prey, slightly out of grasp. And Kaneki... he closes his eyes and he can feel the feather light kisses pressed against his skin, the sensation of swelling emotions rising high, skimming the water's surface but buried underneath waves of apprehension and hesitation. Then it hits him, a crash of realization jolting him from his musings and all of a sudden, he feels incredibly, truly, very silly for not seeing it before.

Kaneki's legs began to move, and he sprinted out of his apartment building, not knowing where he was exactly heading.

The library? The bookstore? The old Ghoul Restaurant, now in ruins? Kaneki didn't know where Tsukiyama lived. Flipping open his phone, he calls Tsukiyama, mouth dry. Two rings later, Tsukiyama answered, a wonderful low tenor that often haunted his dreams.

"Hello? Kaneki-kun, is that you?"

"Where are you? We need to talk." Kaneki asks, looking at the street signs and realizing that he had gotten lost.

"We can talk on the phone." Tsukiyama says, voice tight.

"What's wrong? Too scared to meet me in person? You were doing so well before!" Kaneki mockingly bites out, retracing his steps before giving it up, barely remembering how he had gotten to this part of the 20th ward.

He hears Tsukiyama take in a sharp breath, half annoyed and half exasperated. "I can't see you right now. Please understand."

"But I want to see you."

"..."

Kaneki waits in vain for Tsukiyama to reply, and nearly hangs up after a long stretch of silence. But a cough, uncertain and small, keeps Kaneki on the line. "I," Tsukiyama's voice is hushed. "I never left."

"What?"

"I never left your apartment." He sounds embarrassed. "I had to use the restroom. I saw you leave."

_What?_ Kaneki spots a familiar landmark and begins walking back, a grin splitting on his face. "Then you heard what Hinami said."

"Yes." Tsukiyama laughs softly and reverts back to his usual air. "Wonderful, adorable Hinami-chan!"

Kaneki stops in front of his apartment, knocking on the door. Hinami lets him in, confused. "I thought you were going to find Tsukiyama-ni!"

"He's been here all along." Kaneki says with a grin. He tweaks Hinami's nose as he adds, "You should go to your room and close the door. Tsukiyama and I are going to have a very long talk."

Hinami wrinkles her nose and run upstairs after shooting Kaneki a look which meant she understood everything. Feeling only a little awkward, Kaneki wanders around the house before finding Tsukiyama standing in his room, his jacket off.

"There you are." Kaneki says at the door, his body warming at the sight of Tsukiyama posed in front of his bed.

"Here I am." Tsukiyama echoes, a genuine smile curving attractively, arms rising in an open gesture.

Kaneki closes the door.

From outside, Hinami hears the sound of a lock clicking, and she closes the door to her room, sliding a pair of Kaneki's headphones over her ears and opening her encyclopedia.

She reads and she thinks about the wriggling, shiny centipede dangling from Kaneki's blood stained fingers, the tortured ear of an unfortunate ghoul who she didn't know bleeding profusely. She remembers the fading ecstatic expression Kaneki wore as he pulled it out, the shape of his kagune, and how utterly insane and terrifying he seemed - so unlike the kind oni-san that she knew. He hadn't known that she was there; it had been scary, and seeing the mirrored expression of delight on Tsukiyama's face, she understood something that had never seemed more confusing - why Kaneki let someone so dangerous become so close to him. They understood each other in ways that others did not, in ways that Touka-onee-chan or Yamori, or that bright haired human boy couldn't ever understand about Kaneki.

She traces her finger over the picture of the centipede, thinks about becoming stronger so Kaneki wouldn't have to hide the dark side that was a part of him and worry about her. The book closes, she climbs into her bed, pulling out her sketchbook.

Cheerful music plays in her ears as she draws Kaneki and Tsukiyama and herself, tuning out the muffled noises coming from Kaneki's room.

It is quiet by the time she finishes, and she places the picture next to the one of her mother and father, standing back and admiring.

This was her family now.


End file.
